The Gryffindor crime investigators
by Adrianne Fake
Summary: Voldemort and the Death Eaters are terrorizing the world and the Aurors are not enough to protect the people. The students in Hogwarts have decided to help. One of them gets a new friend as a new student arrives. But could it become more than friendship?
1. Chapter 1

Warning: The plot of this story is based on Sanami Matoh's FAKE manga series so if you've read it you'll know what is going to happen. (And the other way aroud) Also, English is not my first language and I apologize for any mistakes. Please inform me if you find any so I can correct them.

OooooooooooooooO

The Gryffindor crime investigators

Chapter 1

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:

It was a perfectly normal day at Hogwarts. School had started a week ago and everyone was busy with their classes. One boy, though, had just arrived.

"Okey, you're sorted in to Gryffindor" said a helpful older student. "Now you just need to check in with your Head of House. Her office is the one right at the end of that hall over there" she said and pointed to her left.

"Thanks" said the new boy.

"You're very welcome. Oh, and, uh, by the way. Remus – just don't forget to ask me out some time when you're free, okay?" she said and winked.

"Ummm, yeah. I'll be sure to do that Janet" answered the new fifth year Gryffindor with a voice that sounded just a bit unsure.

OooO

"And here we are... Right at the end of the hall" Remus was standing behind the door. "Hope this is it" he thought to himself and knocked nervously. There were voices coming from inside the room. Remus opened the door carefully.

"Too weird. I definitely hear voices in there but no one's answering" he thought and then he heard it.

"YOU IDIOT!" came the yell and poor Remus almost pissed in his pants. Luckily the Professor was yelling at someone else.

"How many times do I have to scream this into your freaking ears before it sinks into your sad excuse for a brain! Are you even paying attention? Darn it, Sirius!"

"I'm listening, I'm listening" said a black-haired boy who was picking his ear.

"Cool. She's not talking to me" Remus murmured to himself and then said with a louder voice, "Urhh, excuse me but..."

"Huh?" the Professor turned to face him. "What the heck do you want!"

"My name is Remus Lupin ma'am. I have just been sorted in to your house" Remus said.

"Oh, a new student, huh? Yeah... Now that you mention it, I vaguely recall something about somebody coming in today" the Professor said as the black-haired boy tried to sneak out of the room.

"In other words, you forgot, right?" Remus mumbled but his voice was drowned by the Professor.

"And just where the hell do you think you're going, dumbass?" she asked in a dangerous tone. "Stop right there, Sirius!"

"Well, you're obviously a bit busy, so I thought it would be in your best interest if I returned to my investigatory duties, ma'am, and..."the black-haired boy tried to look innocent but overdid it completely.

"You're not going anywhere!" the Professor was not fooled. "Give it up." Then she turned back to Remus. "Hey new boy."

"It's Remus, ma'am.

"All right, Remus… Meet your new partner. Ask him to show you how everything works" the Professor said. "Just don't do anything stupid like following his example" she added. Remus found himself totally shocked and looked like Sirius was having the same kind of thougts.

"WWHAAA-? W...Why the heck do I get stuck taking care of the new child, huh!" Sirius started to complain. Remus felt incredibly irritated by Sirius using the word 'child' to talk about him.

"Have fun, kid. Remember to take good care of him" the Professor said to Sirius. She had made up her mind and lighted a cigarette turning away from the boys.

OooO

The boys were soon walking down the hall.

"Y'know, I'd appreciate if you'd retract that 'child' comment mister Black" Remus said. He was still feeling a little annoyed.

"Huh?" Sirius looked at him.

"You can't call someone a child who's the same age you are" Remus tries to explain.

"Ooh, you mean that 'new child' deal?" Sirius asked. "Sorry, man. My bad, 'kay? Look, amogst us guys, we call all the new students 'new children' all right? Don't get worked up about it okay?" He said. "At any rate, the name's Sirius Black. Call me Sirius" Sirius held out his hand.

"Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you" Remus said and shaked Sirius' hand. "And it's not like I was getting worked up about it... Just..." Remus continued to murmur.

Suddenly Sirius leaned down very close to Remus and looked at him straight in the eye. He seemed to be thinking about something, but then he stood straight again without saying anything.

"So, do you have a nickname?" Sirius asked out of the blue.

"Huh?" The total change in Sirius' mood surprised Remus.

"Everyone's got a nickname!"

"Well, mum calls me Moony" Remus answered.

"Moony huh? So, would you take offence to me calling you Moony from now on?" Sirius asked.

"N... No... It wouldn't offend me. It's just... I guess either/or is fine..." Remus really didn't know what to say and started rubbing the back of his neck and tried to avoid looking directly at Sirius. There was a reason for that nickname and he wasn't sure he wanted anyone to know about it. Luckily Sirius didn't ask any questions. He had made his decision.

"Then Moony it is" he said. "I'm gonna call you Moony." And then he looked at Remus again. Remus decided he really didn't like that look. There was something about it that made him feel a bit uncomfortable. _I don't know how to completely explain it but for being overly friendly, borderline obnoxious and in-your-face there is something about Sirius that makes him impossible to hate. Something about him that draws a person to him. _Remus thought as Sirius was talking.

"And remember, bro... If you got any questions at all... don't bother asking me, okay? Of course, that'll get annoying real fast, though. But oh well" Sirius said and winked with a smirk. "Oh, and I'm counting on you to take care of all the paperwork... especially the ones that follow my non-frequent misunderstandings with procedure, 'kay, partner?" Sirius continued to speak happily and put his arm around Remus' shoulders.

"How about we just don't have any 'misunderstandings' in the first place, then?" Remus said rather grimly.

OooO

In the Gryffindor Tower the common room was used as the heasquarters of one of Hogwart's crime investigator units. The units were not as big and important as the Ministry's Aurors but they did help. All the students were free to join and they were led by either their Head of House or one of the older students. After Voldemort had started his crimes against all wizardkind as well as the muggle population, the students of Hogwarts school had decided to help the Aurors and Headmaster Dumbledore had had to give all the older students, starting from fifth year, a permission to go outside of the school grounds whenever they felt necessary. And so the students had been using their free time to solve crimes and trying to help people.

OooO

Once the two boys were in the mentioned Gryffindor common room, Sirius showed Remus a pile of photos.

"Here's what I've been working on" he said and started to explain the case to his new partner. "This guy's name is Alan Potter. We know he's a resident of the slum district just outside of Hogsmeade – but that's about all we have for now. As you can see, he obviously didn't dazzle the neighbours since he's full of marks of different curses. Which means, needless to say, we're dealing with a homicide." Sirius was sitting on a table and took out his cigarettes as he continued. "Here's the tricky part, though. The dudes who did this to him... well, they're not exactly the type you'd invite to a friendly dinner with Dumbledore, you know?" Remus looked toughtful.

"So you think they were Death Eaters?" he asked after a moment.

"Yeah, I'm afraid so. It seems that Alan here was a freelance transporter specializing in narcotics" Sirius said and lighted his cigarette. "We suspect something went wrong during his last transaction and... KABANG." Sirius said and pointed himself in the head the way muggles often use to describe someone getting shot in the head. Remus found the muggle gesture kind of weird but let it go.

"A hit?" Remus asked instead.

"In a lovely coincidence, his final client also happens to be part of a drug smuggling ring we've been chasing for some time now" Sirius said looking for more photos. He showed two of them to Remus. "Here's the head of our little ring, Richard Feldman. His group is not the most powerful of the bunch, but they've got major connections to big fish out there." Sirius sat on the table and smoked his cigarette while Remus sat on a chair next to him and leaned on the table. Sirius still continued to speak. "If we somehow manage to bring these guys down though, then we'd also be gaining a solid foothold into our future narcotics-related investigations." Remus was starting to get a little worried.

"A homicide soured by drugs, huh? This could get messy. I thougt a new guy would get a little easier assignments" he sighed. Sirius started laughing.

"Hey! Take it easy bro. It's just your first gig. Besides, you got me as a partner so no worries, okay?" he grinned. Of course, Remus wouldn't ever admit being worried.

"The only thing I'm worried about is you, but..." Remus didn't have time to finish his sentence because right at that moment something sweeped past them with incredible speed. A young boy with messy black hair and a broomstick. Probably a first year.

"What the hell!" Sirius yelled as the papers from the table flew all over the floor with the wind. Peter ran in completely breathless.

"Sirius, it's all you man. Get him!" he said.

"Great" Sirius snarled and grabbed the kid around the waist next time he flew by. "Better quit while you're ahead, kid."

OooO

A while later Sirius and Peter were drinking coffee in the Great Hall. Sirius was sitting on a bench and Peter was standing next to him.

"He's Alan Potter's son!" Sirius asked.

"I guess they tried to question him but he freaked out when they asked him to identify his father's body" Peter explained.

"I see."

"I don't even see him now."

"Speaking of... where'd he go?"

"Oh, him? He's cool. Someone's just keeping an eye on him right now."

OooO

In an empty classroom Remus was trying to talk with the young Potter.

"Want some hot chocolate? James?" he asked and smiled friendly. James, who was sitting hunched on a chair, didn't say a word. "Look, James... I know this is painful but... I was wondering about your dad" Remus tried again and put both mugs on a table. James still sat quiet, unmoving. His black hair was falling to his eyes hiding them from Remus. He sat too still._ Ah... Now I get it..._ Remus thought. He knelt before the little boy on the chair and lifted his hair of his eyes. _He's still so young._

"Just because you're a boy doesn't mean you need to keep this bottled up, James" Remus said. "I cried the entire day I lost my parents. I was ten."

"Well, I'm not gonna cry!" James said fighting tears. "I'm not..."

"You're very strong. Aren't you?" Remus said sadly and James failed to keep the tears from falling any longer. Remus grabbed him into a hug and let him cry.

OooO

Some time later, when James had got himself put together again, Sirius wanted some answers.

"So I'm gonna ask you again. Where were you the night your father was killed?" He tried to look very intimidating. It didn't work. James only turned to stare at Remus. "Don't look at him! Just answer the question, kid!" Sirius barked. "Are you even listening to me, you little brat?" Sirius was starting to sound very much like Professor McGonagall, when she was talking to Sirius. It didn't have any effect on James though. He had obviously decided to ignore Sirius and just kept looking at Remus.

"What's your name?" he asked suddenly.

"Huh? Me?" Remus was a little surprised of the sudden turn in the conversation. Sirius was not happy at all and was just about to attack James when Remus took a hold of him.

"Look here, kid! I'm the one asking the questions, not you!" Sirius kept yelling.

"My name's Remus Lupin, and this is Sirius Black, James" Remus answered James' question still holding the maddened Sirius. James wasn't bothered by Sirius' ranting.

"What's your nickname? Everyone's got a nickname right?" he continued with his own questions.

"They say great minds think alike..." Remus grinned at Sirius. Sirius just snarled back taking a seat on a chair on the opposite side of the table from James.

"Shuddap" he said to Remus. "And it's Moony, by the way" he answered James' question. James leaned back in his chair putting his hand behind his neck.

"Well then, Moony, I'll tell you everything I know" he said.

"What!" Sirius asked gritting his teeth. Remus was ready to listen, though he was a little worried about Sirius' reaction. The boy seemed to be a bit hot-tempered.

"But not you!" James said and pointed at Sirius. Just as Remus had thought, Sirius jumped over the table at James, but Remus was ready and Sirius didn't get far before Remus was on his back.

"Oh, really? That's how you wanna play it, huh, kid? Well then, bring it on!" Sirius raged at James while Remus was doing his best to hold him down.

"G...Geez, Sirius, calm down! You gonna let a kid ruffle your feathers?"

OooO

A while later Remus was telling the others what James had told him, which wasn't much.

"So, according to James, Alan Potter left his house alone and simply didn't come back."

"So in other words, we got nothing, right?" Sirius said.

"I suppose" Remus mumbled.

"Hmm" McGonagall was thinking. "We'll need a bit more than freakin' nothing to close this one, so expect a bit of overtime on this starting tomorrow, lads." She sighed. "At any rate, that's it for tonight." Everyone stood up and started making their way to wherever. Before Sirius got to take more than a couple of steps Remus called out for him.

"Hey, Sirius, you got a second?" Sirius stopped and turned around to look at Remus. "Are you busy tonight?" Remus asked.

"I guess. I was gonna grab something to eat, then hit the sack. Why do you ask?" Sirius put his hands in to his pockets.

"Well, I was wondering if... if you'd like to have dinner with me. There's something I'd like to discuss with you, if you don't mind" Remus suggested.

"Huh? Ah... Sure" Sirius said with the tinyest hint of a blush and right at that moment James appeared next to Remus grabbing him around the waist.

"What the hell are you blushing for, you fag!" he snarled at Sirius. "What are you a retard?"

"Hey! What the hell are you still doing hangin' around this place? Go to your room, you little snot!" Sirius shouted. He was getting pissed off again and Remus tried to calm them both down.

"Easy now, boys. Let's resolve this over dinner, okay?" And so they started walking towards the Great Hall.

OooO

"Wha!" Sirius shouted shocked and irritated. "You're gonna take him in for a bit! That greasy punk!" He was walking back to Gryffindor Tower with Remus. James had gone ahead to get a shower.

"Look, he doesn't have any relatives, and since his father passed away they're kicking him out of his apartment, too" Remus tried to explain. He had decided to take James to live with him in the same dorm and home with his aunt and uncle during the holidays. He had already owled to his aunt.

"Moony, you're not thinking clearly. Sure, he's a kid and all, but you don't know what he's capable of" Sirius tried but there was really nothing he could say to change Remus' mind.

"How can you make judgements like that! You don't even know him!" Remus turned to look at Sirius exasperated.

"And you do?" Sirius asked gritting his teeth when Remus turned away from him again.

"Probably a lot better than you, Sirius" Remus said. "Is it really okay you took the whole saladbowl with you?" he asked changing the subject. He was still a little worried though Sirius had assured him already so many times after they left the Great Hall. This time Sirius didn't even bother to answer. Then Remus turned his head only a little and looked at Sirius from under his brows with a little evil smile.

"Why don't you try sitting down and actually communicating with him? You might just see what I'm talking about" he said.

"Uh, huh" Sirius said grumpily, munching his salad. They reached the tower and Sirius went up to their dorm while Remus stayed in the common room.

OooO

Sirius was lying on his bed reading a book when James came out of the shower drying his hair with a towel. He came to sit on the floor next to Sirius's bed. Sirius glanced at him annoyed. He couldn't read with James right there. He closed his book and grabbed James' towel.

"Give it here!" he snarled and started drying James' hair rather roughly.

"Whaaaa! Get the hell away from me! Uwwaaaahhhhhh! Ow ow ow ow!" James yelled surprised.

"Shut up and stop moving!" Sirius barked back at him. "Like it really takes that long to dry hair? That was friggin' annoying me." He murmured angrily. He sat down behind James leaning agaist the bed and continued his work more gently. James' hair was very soft and messy. It stood out in every direction and was black as night. It was almost the faintest bit of a bluish shade. Totally different from Sirius' own stylish straight jet black hair but still so similar. James also had three earrings on his left ear.

"Man, you live to piss me off" Sirius mumbled more to himself than to James. "Your hair has an interesting color. It's different... Very cool" he said, trying to make somekind of conversation with nothing better to say.

"Well, I hate it!" James retorted. Sirius stopped drying James' hair looking a little surprised before a grin spread all over his pretty face.

"Oh, I get it. You used to get teased because of your hair, didn't you?" he asked teasingly.

"Shut up. It's not like that" James denied angrily.

"Right, sure. So how bad did they make fun of you, huh?" Sirius continued his teasing, not believing James for a second. That was a mistake. James was fast in his movements and in a heartbeat Sirius found James' foot kicking him in the chin.

"Okay, that's it! It's war, punk!" Sirius yelled and then there was a fight.

"Shut your face, you creepy old codger! I'm a kid! I'm supposed to be short!" James raged.

"Okay, you went too far with the creepy old codger bit!" Sirius shouted. Remus had just come from the shower and was watching the two from the door way.

"I suppose those two are better at communicating through fists rather than words" he thougt. It seemed to be time to give up. "Oh well, sleepy time for me..."

OooO

When the fight finally wore off, Sirius had an idea. He moved to push his and Remus' beds together so that they made one huge bed. Then he turned to grin at Remus. It was one of his charmingly teasing but totally innocent patented Sirius Black grins.

"Can't let you sleep completely alone with the kid" he said. Remus looked a bit grumpy. He wasn't used to sleeping in the same bed with someone else. Sirius and James were sitting on the bed in their pyjamas and Remus went to sit next to Sirius. There wasn't really anything else to do so why bother to try. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"This kind of reminds me of the nights I slept in my parent's bed when I was young. It's weird" Remus said quietly. Sirius looked a little sad for a while but then he gave a small smile.

"You grew up in a loving family, didn't you?" he said.

"Oh, and you didn't?" Remus asked lightly. Sirius' face turned serious, contemplative and sad again.

"Sometimes, I wonder..." he almost whispered and leaned his chin on his fist. Then he put his hand on Remus' shoulder and leaned really close to him. Remus turned his head to look at him. "But you'll love me, won't you?" Sirius said. Remus just stared at Sirius.

"Huh...?" It was all he could get out of his mouth. Sirius turned his eyes away from Remus' face and then leaned back.

"Dork!"he said. "It's a joke, idiot! Don't take everything so seriously." Then Sirius turned to James. "Come on, James. Let's hit the sack." Remus didn't know what to say. Sirius' behavior was just too weird.

"Ur... O... Okay" he finally stammered. They all lay down on their double bed. There was a moment of silence and then Remus spoke.

"Sirius...?" he pushed himself into a sitting position and reached over James to look at Sirius. Sirius was asleep and Remus lay awake alone for some time, thinking. _I wonder if Sirius likes guys? It doesn't seem like he has a girl but I just don't know about him. I don't know anything about him... But what he said just now... It seemed deeper than he played it off..._

"On the other hand, I better stop obsessing about his sexual orientation. If I focus too much on him, I'm going to have to finally admit some stuff about myself" he decided. _Good night and thank God you're here too, James. Else I might be in trouble... I think... _At some point Remus finally fell asleep. Outside, hiding in the shadows, two men were keeping an eye on the window of a certain dorm in Gryffindor Tower.

OooO

A couple of days later Sirius, Remus and James were walking to Hogsmeade. Well, James had his broom and was casually flying a little ahead of Sirius and Remus. Sirius wasn't too happy. He actually looked quite bored behind his dark sunglasses.

"Moony... just to confirm. We're not here to have fun, correct?" he asked watching James.

"No, we're not, okay? We're doing legwork here. Actual work and stuff" Remus said, smiled and pointed a little way ahead. "The crime scene's right over there, after all."

"Then why the hell didn't you leave the kid at home!" Sirius groaned. He found James totally irritating.

"We're protecting him. Since we got some Death Eater action going on, he might be in danger" Remus explained. "Besides, the Professor is cool about all this." He noticed a guy selling hot dogs and waved at James. "James!" he yelled and James flew over to him. "You want a hot dog or something? They've got hamburgers too" Remus asked him.

"Yey!" James got very excited. It wasn't every day the younger students got to eat anything but what was served in the school. Hot dogs and hamburgers were not on the menu. James was a first year so he wasn't usually allowed to leave the castle but now he had a permission to go out with Remus.

"All right, wait here a sec, okay?" Remus said. Then he smiled at him and rumpled his hair.

"Okay" James agreed looking back at Remus. Then Remus turned and started walking towards the hot dog cart and James was left together with Sirius, who didn't look happy at all. He looked a lot like a very suspicious, grumpy private dick from the movies as he slowly took off his glasses.

"Can you buy some juice, too?" James yelled after Remus who turned and waved.

"OK!" he yelled back. Sirius turned to look at James in the face.

"What's up with the goody-goody act for Moony, huh?" he asked suspiciously.

"It's not an act. I just don't like you" James retorted. Sirius lighted one of his cigarettes and James put his hands behind his head, still having no problems staying on his broom, even without his hands.

"Then again, he would be the type to be liked by kids, wouldn't he?" Sirius said. "It might have to do with him actually liking them or something... Unlike me!" he pointed out. James looked at him calculatinly. He flew a few laps on his broom around Sirius and then spoke again.

"It seems like you really like him, too"

"You think so?" Sirius just smoked his cigarette. A picture of Remus floated before Sirius' eyes and he couldn't help but think about James' words. _But he's right. I know I haven't known him long but... there's something about him that's so soothing. I don't even know anything about him... But I've opened up so much already. I've never done that before... Never felt like this before with anyone. _James interrupted Sirius' thoughts.

"You're in love with him, aren't you?" James accused. Sirius stopped abruptly. James seemed to take that as 'yes'. "You sleazy fag! I'm gonna protect Moony!" James snarled. "I'm going to protect him from peorle like you!" Sirius was gritting his teeth again. It seemed like James had that kind of effect on him guite often.

"Shut your- "Sirius hissed. "That's pretty big talk from a low-life runt. 'I'm gonna protect Moony'. Whatever that's supposed to mean!" They stared at each other for a few seconds. "Besides, though, it's not like he's yours to protect or anything" Sirius snarled. That really didn't have the desired effect on James. Actually, James kicked Sirius painfully on the leg and flew off sticking out his tongue. "What the hell was that for, you midget baboon!" Sirius shouted after him standing on one foot and holding the one James kicked. "Come back here, you little snot!"

"As if" James shouted back. Suddenly a strong hand grabbed James by the waist and held him in place.

"James!" Sirius yelled and started running towards James and his attacker.

"Lemme go! Lemme go, you bastard!" James screamed, fighting to get free. Sirius jumped and grabbed James away from the man. Sirius hit the guy, but he was fast and hit back so hard Sirius fell to the ground unconscious. "Sirius!" James shouted and ran over to Sirius. "Sirius! Sirius!" James tried to wake him up, but he wasn't reacting. "Wake up! Sirius!" More men were coming. All dressed in black robes.

"Hurry it the hell up. Before someone sees us" one of them said. Another man came to James, who was becoming angry and scared.

"Come on, kid" the man said. James put his hands around Sirius' neck and decided not to let go.

"What the hell... He won't let go" one of the men said.

"Then just grab him along with the kid!" said another. They had a portkey ready and just as Remus was returning with the food, the portkey activated taking them with the men. Remus had about two seconds to recognize the two familiar black-haired boys before they disappeared. He saw James holding on to Sirius and then they were gone. _A portkey! Sirius! James! _Remus dropped all the things from his hands to the ground and was left standing there, shocked, staring at the place where the group had been standing just seconds ago.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N Still following FAKE as much as I can. It seems that since school started, writing the following chapters will take a lot of time, but this is not the end. This will become a loooong story. Anyway. I hope you like it.

OooO

Chapter 2

In a big house not too far from Hogsmeade, Sirius and James were sitting on the floor of some room. Their kidnappers were standing around them. They obviouly couldn't find what they were looking for.

"I don't see it boss" one of the men said. He was just checking the pockets of Sirius and James' jackets.

"And we didn't find anything at the kid's apartment, either" another man said. The boss seemed a little frustrated. He grabbed James by the front of his shirt. He was holding a cigar on his other hand.

"All right, kid, listen up. The stuff your daddy filched from us wasn't a lot, but it's top of the line, uncut shit, you know? If I had to put a value on it, it'd be 100 mil easy. Not to mention if the stuff I got from Beirut falls into the hands of Aurors or the muggle police, then I might as well put flashing lights up around this place to point me out." It was weird how stupid some criminals could be. It was like he just wanted to talk. He couldn't possibly think this would get James to tell him anything or to feel sympathy. Or maybe he could. At least with an angry face and bared teeth the boy would tell him everything. "So why don't you be a good boy and freakin' feel a bit sorry for all the shit you've caused me, huh!" Well, if Sirius' angry face had no effect on James, why would this man be any different. James put on his own angry face and did what he does best. James kicked the man in the chin. So, maybe that wasn't the smartest plan, but the man sure got the message. Now he was really angry though.

"Why, you little piece of shit! I'm being nice to you and that's how you repay me!" the boss yelled and cut his cigar in two pieces. He brought his hand down hard attending to hit James but Sirius was faster and came between them getting hit across the cheek.

"Sirius!" James shouted. He was standing right behind Sirius. Sirius was on one knee, head down, trying to control himself. When he turned his head up, he looked like he could barely keep himself from attacking the other man.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, you super-sized son of a bitch!" Sirius said almost hissing.

"That sounds like an invitation to me!" the other man said and drew out his wand. Not that Sirius was the same size, but he was quite tall for his age. He was almost as tall as the boss. The boss' physique was just different from Sirius' lean body.

OooO

Soon Sirius and James were thrown in to what seemed to be some kind of storage room.

"Y...You okay, Sirius?" James asked. Sirius was sitting on the floor holding his right arm with his left.

"I'm a boy, of course I am. What's a broken bone...or two...or three?" Sirius said smirking.

"Stop acting so tough. That would almost be funny except... your arm's really busted up" James said. Sirius didn't like the conversation. He hadn't had the 'tough guy conversation' with Remus.

"And by the way... you straight up lied to Moony, didn't you?" he changed the subject.

"W...What about?" James couldn't have sounded any more guilty.

"Ah, just give it up, kid. About the stuff Richard was talking about" Sirius said. "Your father... He gave it to you, didn't he?" James was sitting quiet, staring at the floor. "What do you expect to gain by keeping quiet, huh? You think you can avenge him or something?" Sirius continued. James still refused to say a word. "It's not like I don't understand how you fell but... ahh shit, forget it. Right now, if we don't figure out how to get out of this mess, my arm will be the least of our problems" Sirius said. He did understand how James felt, he just didn't want to think about it right now. It wouldn't help them out of the house. And James was staring at him now. They sat there, thinking for a moment.

"Th... That Moony... He seems a bit out of it, but he's pretty reliable, you know. Ha ha ha! I'm sure he'll figure it out and come rescue us." Sirius said suddenly.

"You sure about that? Really? I thought he just looked reliable but was kind of off on most things" James said. He did have a point. They could only hope. All conversation died and the two settled to just sit and wait for the time being.

OooO

It was pretty late already. In the darkness outside the house Remus was about to start the next step of his rescuing plan. He took out one guard with a nice little stupefy and checked his pulse.

"Good... He's still breathing. Whew." It wouldn't be good to kill a guard. The guard didn't really do anything. Remus couldn't say it was self defence. Remus put his wand back to his pocket and looked around. _Security's pretty thin here, thanks to it being his private residence._ Remus looked up and saw a dormer window. After climbing up to the roof and then jumping in from the window Remus found himself from... _the attic, huh?But I guess this'll do..._ Remus had made a little surprise for the guys living in the house. One of his old friends had taught him how to make a bomb. _Let's see... If I have it go off in two hours... that should give me plenty of time to find Sirius and James by then. I just hope it goes off like it should. And I hope they're both okay... _A loud banging noise from down stairs interrupted Remus before he had time to have second thoughts about his plan. It seemed to come directly beneath him.

OooO

In the storage room Sirius had finally lost his temper.

"Damn you all! Are you guys even listening to us!" he yelled and kicked the door with both feet sitting on the floor in front of it. "Because if you are, you better bring us something to eat and hurry the hell up with it, you bastards! We're starving here! Don't make me come out there! Dammit dammit dammit dammit!" Sirius raged.

„"Shuddap! Shut the hell up, you idiot!" shouted the man sitting on guard on the other side of the door.

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Sirius shouted.

"Why would we have food?" asked the guard. While Sirius was arguing through the door with the man outside, James sat behind him looking bored. At least until he felt a soft tap on his shoulder. He turned around surprised. He was about to speak but Remus gestured him to keep quiet. Then Remus went to tap Sirius on the shoulder. Sirius turned.

"What is it, James..." he stopped when he saw Remus. "Moo.." he started surprised. Remus quickly put his hand over Sirius' mouth to keep him quiet.

"Shhh!" Remus hissed and sat on the floor between the other two. "I'm so glad I found you guys so soon. What do you say we blaze out of here, huh?" he whispered.

"Easier said than done, don't you think?" Sirius whispered. He always had been the optimist.

"I set up a bomb in the attic. It's supposed to go off two hours from now... at 10 o'clock"

"Where the hell did you get a bomb?" Sirius asked.

"My old friend taught me how to make one. I never thought I'd need that information but he was a real crazy person. And I was able to track the portkey that brought you here" Remus answered the guestions Sirius would have asked next, too. "It's a pretty crude bomb but in a house of this size? It'll probably take half of it down when it blows. Also, before I came out here, I went to see Dumbledore. I asked him if he could call the Aurors. I didn't think McGonagall would have let me come" he explained. Then he noticed something. "Your arm" he said to Sirius.

"Ehhh?" Sirius said looking confused for a second. "Oh, this thing? Yeah, it sorta went 'crick' when I fell on the floor with the Cruciatus. It's nothing. Don't worry about it" Sirius tried to sound nonchalant and smirked but it didn't look very convincing.

"What do you mean, don't worry about it! Of course I will! They used the Cruciatus on you and your arm's broken. Didn't you try to splint it at all! That's basic first aid, Sirius!" Remus was holding Sirius' hand in front of him to look at the wound. With his other hand he was taking off his scarf to tie Sirius' arm. Sirius was watching him with a strange expression. He looked like he was thinking of something but Remus couldn't say what it was.

"Guess you were worried about me, huh?" Sirius finally said.

"Huh...?" Remus turned to look at Sirius. Sirius was staring at his own hand still in Remus' hands. "Of course I was. It's natural to worry about your partner." Remus turned back to look at Sirius' arm and tie the scarf around it.

"Yeah, I guess so" Sirius said smiling just a little. The moment was broken very soon by James.

"Ahh, just leave the damn thing alone. It'll heal by itself" he said grumpily jumping between Sirius and Remus so that Remus let go of Sirius' hand. That was not something Sirius had wanted to happen. He turned to glare at James who was glaring back at him just as angrily.

"All... all right, then. We move out at 10. Got it? And by the way, whose fault is it that my arm is broken, huh?" Sirius said. "You are so dead once we get out of here, kid" he hissed to James.

"Did I ask you to jump into the blow?" James hissed back.

"Okay." Remus said, trying to ignore the fight that was probably going to start any minute. "In two hours." Then he remembered. "W...Wait, Sirius! We can't wait that long. Let's move out now!" Remus grabbed Sirius by the front of his shirt with both hands.

"I don't get it. What's gone wrong all of a sudden? What happened to your master plan?" Sirius asked.

"10 o'clock will be too late." Remus said. James watched the two of them with his hands behind his head.

"For what?" Sirius asked. Remus had let go of his shirt.

"It's in the attic right upstairs!" Remus answered.

"What is!" Sirius asked though he could almost guess the answer. And so Remus confirmed his doubts.

"The bomb..." Well, Sirius did not want to really hear that. For a moment everything was quiet and they all just stared at each other. Sirius recovered first.

"YOU IDIOT!" he yelled. "The plan was to rescue us, not kill us! Didn't you think this out at all?" Now he was the one holding Remus by the shirt.

"I didn't think you'd be right under my nose!" Remus said.

"I told you he was out of it" James tought. "Shut up...the both of you!" he shouted. "Let's get the hell out of here." Sirius and Remus turned to look at him.

"O... okay."

"Y... yeah."

"Out of my way!" And so Sirius threw himself against the door and it slammed open. In the next second Sirius kicked the guard and he was out of the game.

"What we need to do is move out right before the explosion" Remus said drawing his wand out of his pocket again and started casting spells.

"And get as far away as we can from this spot. Then, we need to stall them somehow." Sirius said. "Grab on tight, James" He lifted the smaller boy up and was about to stand when James stopped him.

"Sirius! Wait!"

"What the...?"Sirius turned to look at James who was trying to reach his broom while still holding on to Sirius. When he got it Sirius ran. Remus was covering them. They all ran out of the house but stopped dead right outside the front door. They were surrounded. Feldman, the boss, was standing in front of them.

"Game over, boys" he grinned maliciously. "Can't have you thinking it's so easy to escape from here, can I?" he said. "Now, why don't you throw your wand down and go back inside quietly, okay?"

"No way" Sirius said. Remus turned to look at him. What the hell was Sirius doing? "Check it out, assholes!" Sirius shouted and drew a muggle pen out of his pocket. He held it between his fingers for the men to see. "Are you losers quaking in your boots yet?" he asked. Remus just stared at Sirius. He had completely lost all words. It didn't seem to be any better with James. "Listen up good. We've planted an explosive somewhere in your beloved house. And this here is the trigger for it." Sirius said and took a better hold of the pen. "Now, if you guys don't back off, then I'll set it off. Understand!" Well, that stopped the pureblood Death Eaters for a moment. It's not like they had too much experience with muggle thing, except for drugs. They used magic to blow things up. Of course they didn't buy it without doubt, but what if...

"Sirius!" Remus whispered desperately through gritted teeth.

"Don't worry, it's just an ordinary pen. The scariest thing about it is if I click it, the pointy part comes out is all" Sirius whispered back.

"Actually I was referring to their complete look of suspicion over your little charade" Remus whispered.

"Didn't you think they'd figure this out in, like, three seconds!" James whispered from behind Sirius.

"Trust me, okay? Why else do you think I wanted us to stall 'em?" Sirius said and then he clicked the pen. All eyes turned to look at Sirius' hand and the pen in it. A few seconds later the surprise wore off and the Death Eaters were on the move, ready to attack the boys.

"Trying to trick us, eh! Can't have that, can we!" "You scared the piss out of me!" "Get 'em!" "Don't thind you can get away freakin' us out like that, punk! You're dead!" Before the men got to the three boys though, the house exploded. Or a big part of it did, anyway. Everyone jumped to the groud and tried to get some cover.

"Oh, I get it! It's 10 o'clock!" Remus said when the smoke had retreated so that he could see again.

"Celebrate later, run now. Or else we'll be listening to McGonagall yell all night. Owwww" Sirius said. He was about to leave with Remus when James stopped them again.

"Sirius... Moony!" he said. "I... I have to stay." Remus looked at him a confused expression on his face. Sirius nodded.

"I know" Sirius said with a little smile. He patted James on the head. "Good luck, kid."

"Thanks" James said still holdind his broom in his other hand. Remus just stood there with a huge question mark drawn all over his face. And so they left the scene, leaving James waving behind them.

OooO

A few moments later Professor McGonagall came with the Aurors and a couple of members of the Order of the Phoenix. She introduced herself and told whatever reason Dumbledore had given her to get the Aurors there.

"Hey..." Feldman whispered to the nearest of his men.

"Don't worry boss. We'we moved all the goods over to a different location. We're absolutely clean, sir" the man reassured him. McGonagall turned to look at the men a minute later.

"Why, if it isn't you, Mr. Feldman. How's it hanging tonight?" She asked, her voice full of sarcasm.

"Why, hello there, yourself, Professor McGonagall. Working hard, I see" Feldman said with very much the same kind of manner. "But what a surprise. I never thougt to see the Professor out and about for such a minor disturbance like this."

"Well, let's just say business was a little slow at the school. Now I'll be able to devote all my time to see your house is searched from corner to corner, rat hole to rat hole" McGonagall answered. They laughed. They both knew they hated each other and Feldman would have liked nothing better than have the Professor leave as soon as possible. McGonagall's greatest wish at the moment was to see Feldman in Azkaban.

"Professor" one of the Aurors came closer with James. He gave McGonagall a little bag of something. "We found this in the room where this boy was being held." Feldman went pale and the other man turned to look at James who grinned widely while the Professor checked the contents of the bag.

"Oh, did you now..." she asked. "Why, it's cocaine? What a surprise...!" she smirked. Soon Feldman was being taken to the ministry for a trial and McGonagall turned to James. "All right, boy, come over here a second. Just gotta ask you a few questions."

"Okay" James said. McGonagall lighted a cigarette.

"By the way, kid, what happened to your bodyguards, huh?" the Professor asked. James looked up at her.

"We got separated along the way." _Good answer, if I do say so myself._

"Oh, I see... Separated, huh?" _They're so dead._

OooO

Back at the Hogwart's grounds, near the Forbidden Forest, Sirius and Remus were sitting on the ground, leaning on trees across from each other.

"I bet she's mad."

"Don't worry about it. She's always mad."

"Always mad! Maybe at you, but not at me!" Remus just couldn't stop worrying. It was part of his nature. "Say... why did James choose to stay?" he asked the next question that bothered him.

"His dad was skimming drugs from Feldman. Before he died, he gave everything he had to James for safe keeping. He must have hidden the stash in his broom somehow. Why else would he have made an effort to pick it up even in the middle of a fight?" Sirius said. "Anyhow... He's not the smartest kid... but he must have thought long and hard about how to avenge his father. In the end he decided that the best way to get back at Feldman was to have the Aurors handle him. You know the rest." It seemed Sirius had thought about the reason himself.

"Somewhere along the line, you've learned more about James than I have" Remus said.

"That's not true. I hate kids, after all" Sirius said. He lifted his left, unharmed, hand to his hair.

"You sure about that?" Remus asked.

"But I like you" Sirius said.

"Huh?" Remus was looking at Sirius with the question mark written on his face again. Sirius looked at him from the corner of his eye and smiled a little. Remus stared for a moment and then he blushed.

"Aah...O...kay then...ha ha. You're making me blush, man. Th... thanks... I think." _Doh, my eyes are totally giving me away. The way he says things like that... I can't help but think he means it to some degree and... damn if it doesn't affect me..._ Remus stood up. "A... at any rate, we better get you to the infirmary" he said.

"Don't worry about me. You go join the investigation... If you go now, the Professor will let you off the hook with just a cuss of two" Sirius said. Remus kneeled next to him.

"But..." he tried to say but couldn't come up with anything good.

"You can't be writing apologies and doing paperwork on your first case" Sirius assured him. "Me – I'm used to it, though. It's okay. I don't mind." Or at least he tried to assure Remus. Remus just wasn't assured.

"It's not okay" he said.

"It is!"

"I am your partner after all. Aren't I?" Remus smiled a little at Sirius. It was a very pretty smile and Sirius just watched a moment. Then Remus held out his hand to help Sirius get up.

"Come on, let's go... Here, give me your hand" he said. And Sirius did give him his hand, but not to get up. He grabbed Remus' hand and pulled it so that Remus lost his balance and fell almost in Sirius' lap. Sirius turned his head a little and their lips met. He closed his eyes and kissed the other boy. Remus was too shocked to do much anything and before he could really understand what happened Sirius leaned back. Slowly he raised his eyes to look at Remus' eyes. Then he suddenly grabbed Remus into a brotherly hug and slapped him in the back.

"Welcome aboard...partner" he said. Then he stood up leaving Remus on his knees to the groud. "Alrighty, let's head to the infirmary, shall we?" he grinned widely as he started walking towards the castle. Remus was staring at the ground not knowing what to do or think.

"Urrg..." was all that came out when he tried to talk. "Sirius..." was the next word. "It's not like it was my first kiss but... but... with a guy... in a public place... Noooooooo..." he moaned quietly.

OooO

The next day Remus was writing in the Gryffindor common room and Sirius sat on the table in front of him looking highly annoyed.

"Yo, Moony!" No answer. "Moony? Anybody home?"

"What!"

"What's up with you today? Fell out of the wrong side of the bed or something?" Sirius asked.

"Well, whose fault do you think that is!" Remus glared at him.

"Huh? You're implying it's my fault?"

"Yes, of course it's your fault! Who else!" Remus pointed at him, his glare even angrier if possible. Sirius turned his head away.

"Whatever... it was just a kiss, okay? You won't die from it" he huffed.

"I hope not!" Remus screamed. "But if you haven't noticed, we're both boys! And... you didn't even ask my permission!" Suddenly Remus found Sirius' face very close to his own.

"Ohhh! So in other words, if I have your permission, then we're golden, right?" Sirius grinned predatorially.

"SIRIUS!" That was all Remus could say before a foot connected with Sirius' chin again.

"Don't touch Moony like that, you bastard" James had come to Remus' rescue.

"What the hell was that for, you little snot?" Sirius raged.

"None of your freakin' business, is it?" James retorted. "Besides, I'm gonna live with Moony from now on."

"My aunt and uncle said it would be okay" Remus said.

"I'm totally against this! No friggin' way! Uh, uh, nope, nope, nope! No fair! I'm totally jealous!" Sirius yelled. James made a face.

"Guess you know who's the boss now, huh? Loser!" he shouted. Then he kicked Sirius on the stomach. "Take that!" And then he ran sticking out his tongue. Sirius was holding his arm that had been just healed. Remus sat on the table watching the two. There was really no point trying to calm them down.

"James... You little!" Sirius growled.


End file.
